Winch



May 12, 1942. N. P. LARsx-:N Erm.

WINCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 16, 1938 May 12,1942- N. P *LARsEN ETAL 2,282,731

4f /lr/ (4 l 6/ 6o 57 ao ez 65 i -6. INVENTO /5/ NE1L' P. MESE/Y d H45 ma/MM ,4m

AToRNEYs UNITED sTATss-PA'1jENT fol-Fics d Y Neil P. Larsen and Herm Heights,

corporation of Ohio an J, Troche, Cleveland Ohio, assignors to Th Coach & Body Company,

l c American Cleveland, VV('.hiopa Application February-1s, 1aed-,serial No. 190,760 4 claims. (ci. 254,-187) This invention relates to power Winches, particularly of the type adapted to be mounted on a motor vehicle and controlled from the drivers cab. The general object is to provide an improved winch mechanism of the class above indicated.

Power Winches, when designed to be mounted on a road vehicle, must be light in construction and if operable from the drivers cab have a suciently simple control arrangement so that the operator will not require any great amount of training in the operation of hoists, beyondv what would be expected of him as a vehicle operator.

Another problem is presented by the variation in design of road vehicles, wherefore, it is desirable that the winch be adapted to be secured to different makes and types of Vehicles available to support them. It is also highly desirable that the Winches be so arranged as not to bel accidentally disconnected from the powersource when lifting a load, as in the erection of telephone and light wire poles, for the reason that such disconnection at inopportune times can cause great personal and property damage.

Other desirable features are so to arrange the mechanism that it may be secured very firmly in place, and all looseness of connections taken up as quickly and simply as possible. Moreover, because the winch drum may be required to occupy one position on one vehicle and a different position on another vehicle, it is desirable that movement of the drum and its driving means on a main frame may be had, without resort to costly, insecure or complicated holding means for the essential mechanism in the different positions it may occupy.

A further desired feature is the availability of the parts and sub-assemblies for removal, replacement and servicing.

Another desirable feature is the arrangement of a supporting framework for a hoisting drum such that the forces imposed by the load are taken up as directly as possible by strong loadresisting frame parts situated close to or in the plane in which such forces are concentrated.

With the above in View, a further object of the invention is the provision of a simple and eiective winch construction in which any one or various combinations of the desirable features referred to are present.

A more specific object is to provide an improved driving brake for a worm-driven winch.

Another object is to provide a winch control arrangement adapted to be operated by power supplied from a vehicle engine (as by engine vacuum) in order to disengage the winding drum from the source of power which drives it.

A further object is to provide an automatic I. unwinding drum brake, which mill Operate to Y prevent free unreeling of cable whenever the drum is disconnected from its power drive.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description relating to the accompanying drawings, showing the preferred form. The essential characteristics are summarized in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. lis a side elevation of a motor vehicle, partly broken away toY show the winch; Fig.- 2 isV a fragmentary plan View, in-.a larger scale, of the winchmechanism and its supporting framework; Fig. 3'is a sectional view, in a vertical plane, taken substanx tially along the'line 3--3 on Fig. 1; Fig. Ll's af detail viewthereof, as indicated by the line 4`4 on Fig. 3; Fig. 5'is a sectional view through theV worm-driving gearing for the winding drum,k as indicated by the lines 5 5 on Figs. 2 and 3 Fig. 6 is a detail. end view of the working parts of an automatic worm brake, as indicated by the line 6 6 on Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a sectional detail view as indicated bythe line. 1-1 0n Fig. 3. Referring to Fig. 1, the vehicle shown is of the automobile type, having an internalcombustion motor l,- a change'speed mechanism' 2, andthe usual driving connections including a propeller shaft @leading to a set of traction wheels 4. The chassis includes the vusual longitudinal frame members or sills 5, portions of which are shown in'Fig's. 1 and 3, with vertical webs 6 and horizontalflanges 1. The'drivers cab is indicated at 8, and a coveredload-carryingV of the body 9, inside it, behind thedrivers cab;

and' the single winding drum`l l' has .acable I2 extending rearwardly'as overa guiding sheavei3V supported at the upper rear portionfof the body.

The main framework of the .winch includes two upright hangerbrackets l5 vand I6, the" formerofwhichxis shown in Fig'. L] These arec similarly.'V constructed, one a right and orie'a left, and have leg portions H provided .with up-i right andv horizontal stiffening flanges l8 Tand. l9= respectively. The legs have flat surfaces adapted eig. to be bolted. riveted or Welded' in'ffac'e-toface contact with the web portions 6 of the Vehicle sills to support the drum at various heights thereabove or between them.

At the upper portions of the hanger brackets I and I6, both forwardly and rearwardly of the winch mechanism, are circularly recessed perches interconnected in a fore and aft direction by web and flange portions of the brackets, including the flanges I9. Secured in the rests 20 of the hanger brackets are relatively light but stiff cross-frame bars 25. straight steel tubes furnished in whatever lengths, are required to extend from the vertical plane of one chassis frame sill 5 tothe-other. 'I *he tubes can be furnished in standardfclengthsand cut off in the field if too long. The winch mechanism, as will later be shown, forms a unit with both tubes and, in order to permiti lateral` F and 62, bolted to the lower side walls of the These are preferably adjustment of such unit relative to theH vehicle V frame, the ends of the tubes are secured against the circularly recessedperches 2,0 of the hanger brackets by. U-bolts 26, with nuts 21. on the; un dersides of the. perches.

The winding drum I.I is, borne. by a heavy cross-shafty 3 8, which is supported, substantially in the. horizontal plane of the tubes 25, partly by a worm-gear housing 3l and partly byL avertir,A cally and horizontally flanged beam 32, thehousing. and beam each being anchored to both tubes 25. The housing 3| and` beam 32 maybe ad-v justed crosswise .of the vehicle frame. on the tubes. 25, separately or unitarily, the. preferred securf, ing meanscomprising circularly recessed endpor-V tions and 36. on. the housing ,3lV and beam. 324 respectively, said portionsv snugly embracing-adjacent surfaces of` the tubesand being clampedf thereagainst by U-bolts 31 ,and nuts 38;. For standardization of parts, all.the,U-.bolts can be. identical.

The housing 3l (seeFig. 3), hasa hollowv enlarged and circular central portion 40., closed atV one .side by a detachable wall 4l., securedas. by,I

cap screws. Opposite walls of the. housing members have thickened portions, 42l and 43, respectively, to form or support bearings forV the` shaft 30. Parallel spaced vertical flanges.4 1.. (see Figs. 2y and 5), above and. below webs. 4.8 connect'I the.- generally circular hollow portion4|l ofthe. housing 3|, with thevv circularly recessedportions 35, which areclamped to thetubes25.. l

The housing 3| may havek an adjustable. sta-V bilizing connection with oneof the hanger. bracke ets; such being shown in Fig. 3 as a stud45`- threaded into. a boss 44` on the. housing. The. studhas a threaded portion extending through the vertical web of the. hangerbracket I5 and secured as by adjustingVv and securingv nuts 46, on one or both sides of it. The outermost nut shown is a lock-nutfor maintaining adjustment.

For driving the winch drum, an auxiliary.v transmission 58 of suitable type (shown in dotted. lines, Fig. 1) may be arranged adjacent the main transmission mechanism 2 of the vvehicle power unit, which auxiliary transmission, hasa control lever 5l and tail shaft 52. The tail-shaft has.- a universal connection of suitable form with a, shaft 53, the rearward end offwhich, asi1lus,. trated in Fig. 5, is connectedby asuitableuniversal joint 54 with the forwardly extending. end4 of a worm-shaft 56, having a worm 51-.thereon Within the lower portion of thehousng 3l. The worm meshes with a worm wheel 58 which,- asl shown in Fig. 3, is` drivinglykeyed'to=the,shaft. 30 asa't 59.

The, auxiliary transmission includes. suitablehousing lportion 48. 'I'he bearing supporting cap member 62, at the right in Fig. 5, has a hollow Venlarged extension V63 thereon, adapted to serve asa housing for an automatic reverse-preventing brake mechanism for the worm-shaft, the details and functions of which will be fully desc zribed.Y below. 'I his can have control connections, with the vauxiliary transmission so that when it is necessary to drive the winding drum invl the directionto pay out cable, the automatic brake. will be rendered inoperative. The outer end; of' the brake casing 63, has a detachable plate 65,- closing it.

The driving; connections between the, winding;

drumv andV the worm gear mechanism are arf.v ranged as follows: The drum is loose onthe shaft. 30, being, supported as on appropriate bearing sleeves 18 inside hub members 1| of the drumJ structure. At opposite ends of the hub portions 1| arerings 12, which maybe pinned to the shaftA andA operatively. abut respective hub; members; 1l`V to secure thev drum against endwise movementk on the shaft. The end of the drum adjacentthef. worm gearing is open, and has formed in it a,

plurality of heavy plain-faced clutch teeth 15,?

adapted to be engaged by a complementary sety of teeth, 1B on a sliding clutch sleeve 11,v keyed tothe, drum driving shaft 30, as by oppositelyv positioned keys or splines,v one key being shown. at 68. The sets of clutch teeth are normally held in meshA with each other byfalever mechanism, including Yyoke arms 18 on a cross-shaft 19, se?. cured in suitable brackets extending from they detachable wall member of the worm gear housing. Pins on the yoke arms 18 engage a,-

groove 801inthe sleeve 11 in the usualmanner..

' At the-.outer end .or tneshaft 1s, assnown pap.

ticularly in Fig. 2, is an armA 8|, connected as ,at

725` onto the drum. to lift-a load' such as aglightfpole.,y

82 with an operating Yrod 83; which extends;

thlroulgh an enlarged opening in one of thev flanges 41 of the worm gear housing to the driven. element of a motor device 86, adapted to be operated by fluid pressure or pneumatically, as byengine vacuum.v As shownV in broken lines at 85, Vsaid-element is a diaphragm. A coil springA 88-on the rod engages an adjustable abutment 89.-` (a nut, as shown) on the-rod1 at one end, and one ofthe anges 41 at the other. The springV normally maintains the rod 83 in a position to hold.

the clutch teeth 15 and 16 in mesh. Opposite motion of the rod sa to disconnect the teeth/can,

be accomplished by a vacuum line 9.0-9=,I', Fig, 1, having an interposed control'. valve 9-2', within reachof the driver or operator, as on the dash orI instrument panel in the cab.v 'I-'he portionk 90'Y of-f thevacuum line may be connected with the` intake manifold of the motor and the portionl. with the device 8,6fin, armanner to pull the dia;- phragm 85against the action of the spring and release the clutch whenever the valve- 92 is, opened. f

Assuming that the Vehicle is suitably blocked, l with the engine in operationl andthe-auxiliary' transmission 50 adjusted' to` deliver power to the worm gear mechanismandthe; drum H, continued` operationgof'the engine will windnthe cable Reversing driveof power :take-off 50`lowers .the pole into position. When such polevhas been set, the operator in the cab releases the control valve 92 of thervacuum system, .thus releasing the clutch teeth 15 and 16 from engagement and freeing the drum on its bearing 10. To prevent overrunning ofthe drum when unreeling cable, as by hand, we have connected with the clutch release mechanism an automatic adjustable brake for the drum, shown as a flat shoe |00, Figs. 3 and 4, with friction materialthere- .on at adapted to bear against the near smooth face |03 of the drum. The shoe |00 has a pin and slot connection |05 with the lower ends of two arms |06, connected with the clutch shifter arms 18, so that whenever the shifter arms are moved by the uid pressure operated device 86 to disconnect the dental clutch 15-16, the friction shoe |0| is maintained by said device in forcible contact with the drum, checking free movement of it ineither direction.

In order to maintain the shoe |00 against the surface |03 of the winding drum when the dental clutch is engaged and the arms |06 are moved away from said surface |03, we have provided a bowed leaf spring |00a (see Fig. 1) connected to the shoe as at |0017 and having its free ends |00c bearing outwardly on the arms |06. Operating pressure of the shoe |00-|0| 4on the drum may be adjusted to the operators desire, by movement of the nut 89 toward or from the spring 88 on the operating rod 83. The force applied by the friction brake |00- |03 is not sufcient to prevent pulling out .of the cable |2 manually, as in order to secure the cable to a new load.

Positive locking of the drum is effected when the worm 51 is not being driven, assuming the vacuum control valve 92 has not been operated to disengage the dental clutch. From the nature of the dental clutch, described above, it will be seen that the force applied by engine vacuum, is insucient to disconnect the clutch teeth from each other while the drum and cable are under load. If, at such time, the auxiliary transmission is shifted to neutral, non-driving position, then, it might be possible for the worm wheel 58 to drive the worm 51 backward and allow the load to fall. The automatic brake shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is provided to prevent the reversal of the worm 51 in such case.

As shown, the automatic worm brake comprises a drum ||0 secured as by a key and nut ||2 to one reduced extremity of the worm-shaft 56.

Extending on opposite sides of the drum are a pair of bent arms I4, the leithand ends .of which, as illustrated in Fig. 6, are connected to a brake shoe ||5, as by a pivot pin ||6. A coil spring I1 connected to the outer ends of the arms and wall of the housing exerts suicient force to keep the shoe in contact with the drum. The opposite ends of the bent arms ||4 are pivotally secured as at ||8 to a lever ||9, which has its lower end pivoted at to the housing 63. The lever ||9 has an upwardly extending arm |2|, against which a coil spring |22 on an adjustable rod |23 acts to move the arms ||4 in a direction to seat the shoe ||5 against the drum. The effective force of the spring |22 is controlled for adjustment by an externally positioned nut |25, threaded to the rod |23 which carries the spring. It will be noted that the pivotal connections I6 and |8 are in a plane suiciently above the drum axis so that in the normal rotation of the drum, indicated by an arrow thereon in Fig. 6, the brake has no appreciable retarding influence upon the' worm .61.l However,thepivots` ||6 and V|t|8 are sufficiently. close. to alignment with the I drum axisso that uponattempted reversal of. the worm anddrum ||0,1the shoe is self-energized .to grip the drumgtightly and prevent; reverse rotation ofthe wormn; f

orderto vdriv'e'the vworm in winding-drum- Vreversing direction the .arms ||4 and the brake 10y shoe ||5 can be moved bodily upwardly away from the drum ||0 by a'exible cable |50 connected with the power take-off or auxiliary transmission control lever 5|whenever such 1ever is moved to reverse drive position.

The end of the worm-shaft opposite the brake mechanism has a splinedvconnection at |30 with the universal joint and the brake housing is secured to the worm gear housing portion 40 by cap screws |3|, so that when the cap 65 is removed (permitting access'to the screws |3|) the reverse-preventing drum mechanism and. the worm-shaft can be removed from the housing 3| as a unit for inspection or repair. The worm can also be removed from the opposite side of the housing, upon removal of the lcap 6|, the plate 65 and the nut ||2.

It will be seen thaty the mechanism and construction described accomplishes the objects heretofore outlined, and has the desirable fea-v tures referred to in the opening paragraphs.

We claim:

1. In a hoisting mechanism of the class described, a cable winding drum, driving means fo-r said winding drum, a jawlclutch interposed between the winding drum and the driving means and operable to selectively connect and disconnect the driving means with the drum, said clutch being arranged and adapted so that the jaws thereof cooperate with the winding drum when the clutch is in a drive connecting condition, a brake for said drum, a vacuum operated means connected to the brake and clutch to simultaneously apply said brak'e .to the drum and disconnect the clutch from its driving relation withI the drum, said vacuum operated means being arranged and adapted to effect the disconnection of the jaw clutch from the drum and to effect the application of the brake to the drum only when there is no load on the winding drum.

2. In a power winch, a winding drum and power means for driving it, a toothed clutch movably arranged to connect and disconnect the drum from the driving means, a device operated by said power means and operatively connected with the clutch in a manner to disconnect the drum and driving means, said clutch and device being arranged and adapted so that the device has insuflicient power to cause such disconnection when the drum is operating to move a load or is holding a load against movement.

3. In a power winch, a shaft, a drum freely rotatable on the shaft axis, a driving gear including a worm-gear drivingly connected with the shaft and a worm in mesh with the gear, a power connection for driving the worm, a dental clutch splined to the shaft and adapted to mesh with teeth on the drum, a vacuum device adapted to release the -clutch when not under load but having insufficient power to release it when under load, and means constantly tending to hold the clutch in position to connect thev gear and drum.

4. In a hoistingl mechanism of the class described, a cable winding drum, power driving means for said winding drum, a jaw clutch in- 5 ing'drum.

and operating to withdraw said clutch, saidl vacuum operated means beingY arranged' and adaptedto effect th'e withdrawal of said clutch only when there is substantially no load on the wind- NEILP. LARSEN. HERMAN J. TROCHE. 

